Largely as a result of all of this uproar, it's been an interesting week to be a sexual health educator! I've been likened to a pedophile more than once (eek!) and have heard several people exclaim "They want to teach them anal sex in grade three!". The first of these statements (that I am a pedophile) is more than a little silly so I will skip right to the second.
The second statement, that this curriculum involves teaching anal sex to eight year old children - is absolutely outrageous and completely inaccurate. For one, the curriculum does not involve "teaching anal sex" to anyone. It includes teaching about what anal sex is, and the risks associated with it, and about safer sex ... but not until the sixth or seventh grade. Why, you may wonder, is it even necessary to teach our young people anything about anal sex? The answer to that is both simple and complex -- because they need to know. More and more young people are engaging in anal sex, and anal sex is a high risk behaviour. Furthermore, many young people do not regard anal sex as "real sex" with "real consequences" so they don't take the steps necessary to protect themselves.
In addition, the topics that would be introduced in the third grade are basic and involve teaching about diversity ... "Some families have two mommies or two daddies". This revision to the curriculum acknowledges the reality that homosexual, bisexual, transsexual, transgendered, queer, two-spirited (and anyone I've missed) people are people too. These people have families and deserve as much recognition and validation as any other person or family.
I read something on facebook yesterday that I thought sums the situation up in an interesting and rather humerous way:
"So let me get this straight - Larry King is getting his 8th divorce, Elizabeth Taylor is possibly getting married for a 9th time, Jesse James and Tiger Woods are (having sex with) EVERYTHING, yet the idea of same-sex marriage is what is going to destroy the institution of marriage?? REALLY??"
I realize that many of those who have misinterpreted the intentions of the curriculum (see example above) have done so because of the way it has been portrayed in the media. McGuinty, for one, could have handled things much more delicately than he actually did. Of course, this kind of sensationalism is great at getting people watching and reading, so the media picked up on the fire and ran with it. Add in those who are strongly enough opposed to pull their kids out of school and we have quite the interesting scene!
I will be watching to see what happens next. I have seen the OPHEA guidelines for our sex ed curriculum, and I can speak from experience in saying that they are minimal and insufficient. There are definitely those out there who feel similarly to me; that it's extremely important to teach kids a comprehensive sex-ed curriculum. After all, the decisions kids make around sex can impact the rest of their lives.
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